Petit shuts down Cubs as Diamondbacks take series

Jul 22, 2007 - 10:57 PM
CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Yusmeiro Petit was unfazed by the hottest
team in the majors.

Petit threw six outstanding innings and Chris Snyder homered as
the Diamondbacks posted a 3-0 victory over the red-hot Chicago
Cubs on Sunday.

Petit (2-2), who was making his fourth start in place of the
injured Randy Johnson, quieted a Cubs' offense that had scored
29 runs in the previous four games.

It was quite an accomplishment for the young Venezuelan
considering Chicago also entered the game 17-6 at home and a
major league-best 28-14 since June 3.

"Petit has done a great job for us," Arizona manager Bob Melvin
said. "There is maybe one game that we have not been in that he
started for us."

Petit allowed just three hits and did not issue and walk. He
also struck out five in throwing 61 of 88 pitches for strikes
to deny Chicago its fifth consecutive series win at home.

"You are not going to win every series," Cubs manager Lou
Piniella said. "Look, a 7-3 homestand is pretty good. We will
move on to St. Louis from here."

The 22-year-old righthander allowed just one runner into scoring
position. That came in the third inning when Alfonso Soriano hit
a two-out double to left field, but was stranded when Ryan Theriot
hit a comebacker to end the threat.

"Yusmeiro did his job by all means today," said Snyder, who was
behind the plate for Petit's fine effort. "He held them down
today, when he fell behind he would work himself back into the
count. He made them (Cubs) put the ball in play and let our
infielders do the work."

Rookie Mark Reynolds and Snyder provided all the runs Petit needed.
Reynolds had an RBI single in the first and Snyder hit a leadoff
homer - his seventh of the season - off reliever Carlos Marmol in
the seventh for a 2-0 lead.

Arizona scored three or less runs for the seventh time in eight
games, but it was enough in this one.

"That was huge," Snyder said. "The way things have been going
any run we can get or scratch out is big."

One batter after Snyder's home run, Marmol walked Chris Young, who
stole second before Orlando Hudson also drew a base on balls.
Young later scored on a two-out bloop single off the bat of Conor
Jackson for a 3-0 advantage. Marmol avoided further damage by
striking out Reynolds with runners on the corners.

Diamondbacks righthander Tony Pena threw a scoreless seventh and
Brandon Lyon worked the eighth before All-Star closer Jose
Valverde worked around a leadoff single to convert his 30th save
in 33 chances.

Jackson had a pair of hits for Arizona, which won for just the
fifth time in 15 games and captured its first road series since
June 15-17.

Meanwhile, Chicago lost its second straight despite the best
efforts of Sean Marshall (4-4). Winless in his last four
starts, Marshall allowed just one run and five hits in six
innings with five strikeouts.

"I can take some confidence out of this start," Marshall said.
"To bad we didn't score the runs that we needed to, but that
happens to every team at certain times of the year."

Jason Kendall, who was acquired from the Oakland Athletics on
Monday, recorded his first hit for the Cubs, who lost 3-2 on
Saturday after Stephen Drew hit go-ahead homer off closer Bob
Howry in the eighth.

Chicago, which finished 7-3 on its 10-game homestand, will get a
boost on Tuesday as Derrek Lee returns from serving a five-game
suspension for his role in a brawl with the San Diego Padres on
June 16.

"I am looking forward to coming back," Lee said. "It's not easy
watching these games from the clubhouse."

NLAT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATESOLO HOME RUN BY CHRIS SNYDER (8) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 0 OUT IN THE 7TH OFF CARLOS MARMOL.CURRENT SCORE: ARIZONA 2, CHICAGO CUBS 0DUE UP FOR ARIZONA: Y PETIT (.000, 0-FOR-2)